Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan took over the company last year after the fake accounts scandal.
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A man passes by a Wells Fargo bank office in Oakland, California in a 2014 file photo. Regulators announced Thursday that Wells Fargo is being fined $185 million for illegally opening millions of unauthorized accounts for their customers in order to meet aggressive sales goals.(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

As far as Berkeley resident David Salvatore is concerned, it's a money grab.

In May, Wells Fargo charged him $31 to stop payment on two checks. The bank later waived the fee, but told him that stop-payment orders expire after six months. He would have to pay $31 in November, and every six months after, if he wanted to keep it going.

"Why can't Wells Fargo place a stop-pay on a check for an indefinite period of time?" Salvatore wrote recently to Press on Your Side. "Why is it only for six months? Is it because Wells Fargo Bank wants to repeatedly collect a $31.00 service fee every six months – FOREVER?"

Bank fees are enough to get anyone upset. Did you know that a stop-payment check order doesn't last forever?

Salvatore said he never got a satisfactory answer from Wells Fargo. He also filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

'Most wanted list'

First a little background. Salvatore asked Wells Fargo to stop payment on two checks. One was for $100. The other was for $975.

Greg McBride, senior vice president and chief financial analyst with Bankrate.com, said a stop payment is based on the check's information, including the amount, date and the payee. "It is kind of like putting the check on the 10 most wanted list," he said.

So why does he have to renew the order in six months?

Typically, banks require the renewal of stop payment orders and charge a fee. OceanFirst Bank sets a six-month limit. Bank of America will stop payment on checks for 12 months. A stop payment from TD Bank expires after one year.

"This six-month limit is in place because the bank must compare its database of stop payments against checks received during processing on a nightly basis," said Wells Fargo spokesman Kevin Friedlander.

The bank also allows customers to place a stop on checks with only limited information about the check, he said. For instance, someone may ask the bank to stop all checks over $200. In those cases, the check is sorted and reviewed by hand, Friedlander said.

"If banks were to retain all stop payments indefinitely, it would significantly impact our ability to process current payments in a timely fashion and would limit us to only evaluating exact matches," Friedlander said in a statement to Press on Your Side.

The bank did not comment on Salvatore's situation. But generally, Friedlander said, in most cases, a six month-period is enough.

But if customers believe it isn't, such as if there is a dispute with a merchant, the bank generally advises they renew the hold, he said. While it will cost $31, "our bankers will generally waive that fee when there is a good reason to extend the stop payment beyond six months," he said.

"There is generally little reason for a customer to extend the stop payment indefinitely," Friedlander said. "Ultimately, if a check is presented to the payee and accepted by a bank, the customer's final recourse is to request the funds from the payee, and to consider legal action if necessary."

Salvatore is unhappy with the uncertainty of it all. While there usually may be no reason to extend a stop-payment order, there's no guarantee that a check someone wishes to stop won't be deposited later.

"You don't know what's going to happen," he said. "There is no certainty. I find this whole thing shocking."

'You have to keep paying them'

McBride weighed in on the issue.

"If you are paying someone to watch over your house, they are not going to do it in perpetuity," he said. "You pay for a period of time and if you want them to keep monitoring your house, you have to keep paying them."

The difference, he said: "The likelihood the check gets cashed does decline with the passage of time."

Here are some other things to keep in mind about stop payment orders at Wells Fargo. It's likely that other banks have similar policies.

A stop payment order won't stop a check that already cleared your account. In its terms, Wells Fargo said it may not verify that your check already cleared until after a stop payment order is accepted. In other words, you'll be too late.

If a check is lost or stolen, there's no cost for a stop payment when customers close the account associated with the check, Friedlander said.

If a customer chooses not to close the account for a lost or stolen check, a fee applies to stop a particular check. And the customer will have to renew it in six months.

Do you have a consumer problem that needs solving? Contact David P. Willis at 732-643-4042, pressonyourside@gannettnj.com or facebook.com/dpwillis732.